Stash Busting

I've written before that I love buttons.  They are just a great, basic staple.  They are also easy to collect.  But they are also conducive to getting stuck using them in whatever way you use buttons.  For me they tend to "button down" folded corners (when I can't decide which side of the paper I prefer), "holding down" border strips, being the "bullets" in list-style journaling, or scattering in with a layered grouping.

It works, but it can be a tad boring.  So I went searching my Pinerest Board, as well as a general Pinterest Search and found some inspiring ideas.

I found this sweet Card using buttons as flowers.  Translate the card to your scrapbook page but embellishing along a border, the bottom of a journaling block or card, under your main photo, bracketing a title or as part of a grouping.

I found these cute Balloons on another card.  Can I just say I love the color combo!  But the buttons, seen just as they are, but transferred to a layout, simple oval mats and all - how cute?  Got bigger buttons, make a bigger grouping.  Float them around the main photo, a small grouping of several photos or the title.

Now I have used small buttons on a flower or two, but seeing a group of them as Flower Centers, along with brads and some sequins, is fun.  Now you're using those paper flowers AND buttons!

My scrapbooking knows no season.  Therefore, these Ornaments would be adorable dropped from a corner, along a portion of a top border, from a journaling block or a above a photo on a layout.

I saw several examples of using buttons on trees, but some were just covered in buttons - like dozens of buttons; way too heavy to be a realistic option to put in an album.  But I loved these two examples of using buttons as leaves.  The first Tree has a monochromatic feel to it, but you could drop in some reds, golds and oranges to mix it up; using pinks, whites and yellow for a Spring feel.  The second Tree, and its buttons, is just as enchanting with the punched circles and small buttons inside.  Both are doable.

I could have kept looking, but decided to stop when I found buttons in place of letters.  Simple and kind of a "duh" moment.  You could add to these simple "O's" by adding the appropriate lines to make a's, b's d's, g's, p's and q's, too.

Go.  Create.